Things of Last Night: The Hell's Ditch Launch

So the paperback launch of Hell's Ditch went off last night at Waterstones Liverpool One, with Ramsey Campbell and Conrad Williams also reading in an effort to make me look good!

I was glad to see a few friends in the audience, including a few I hadn't met in a while, but even better there were a whole bunch of people I hadn't seen before. Always nice when some complete strangers show up!

Conrad read a passage from his latest, Dust And Desire, the first of a series of crime novels featuring his PI Joel Sorrell. I read it when it was first published as Blonde On A Stick; Conrad did a signing for at that very Waterstones store back in 2010, which was where I met a certain Cate Gardner for the very first time...! Anyway, Dust And Desire is out now and well worth your time: it's a very bleak, blackly funny crime novel, strongly influenced by the 'Factory' novels of Derek Raymond.

Ramsey's reading was from his latest novel too, Thirteen Days By Sunset Beach, in which an elderly couple's holiday on a Greek island with their children and grandchildren acquires subtle shades of menace that may be related to ancient legends. It's a powerful and often poignant tale, and - as usual with Ramsey - necessary reading for anyone who appreciates great supernatural fiction.

We had a great turnout - a lively audience who provided a fun Q&A session following the readings - and as the photographic evidence shows, a good number of books were sold. Our friends Priya Sharma and her partner Mark also came along, and joined us for a massive Chinese meal following the event. I somehow managed to get out of the restaurant without having to be pushed in a wheelbarrow...

Big thanks are due to Conrad and Ramsey for their support, to Glyn Morgan and the rest of the Waterstones team for hosting us, and to everyone who came for showing up! And of course, to Cate, not least for the photographs.